After many weeks of work, we have finished our first literacy video to encourage kids to read. Please check it out at Youtube, and please take a minute to rate it and comment. Send it to your friends! Thanks for your support!
For the 2nd time this year, we returned to Everglades National Park at the Shark Valley entrance to bike the 15-mile loop and view the incredible wildlife unique to South Florida. At the half way mark is a tower where you can see the wildlife from above. We got some fantastic photos. The highlights of the day were 1) a gator guarding his catch of the day – a humongous python – which he had already half devoured; 2) a red shouldered hawk hanging out in a tree and; 3) a HUGE crow who got my bag of sun chips from my camera case and flew away (too bad I was not able to get a photo of that one).
If you have never been to the Everglades, this is a trip you must take. Kids ages 10 and up can handle the bike ride if you take your time. There is also a tram you can take. But don’t even think about coming in during the summer months. It is unbearably hot and humid – even for locals like me who are used to the heat. The best time is from mid-November through April.
My feet are throbbing from standing in the kitchen all day. Who takes photos of their pies? I do . . .
We make a REALLY big deal out of Thanksgiving here. And it is a REALLY big production. I am already daydreaming about getting rolled away on a stretcher and taken to a hospital to recover from exhaustion on Friday morning.
This is how it works:
6 weeks before Thanksgiving, we call to invite friends/family over for the holiday dinner.
3 weeks before Thanksgiving my husband, daughter and I have a family meeting to discuss the menu. We take this very seriously. The flavors of homemade ice cream to be made are generally the most intense part of the discussion (this year butter pecan and coconut), followed by the vegetable dishes. There are some recipes that never change, like the turkey, stuffing, gravy, garlic mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce.
I read cookbooks and magazines to see if there is a new way of making some of the recipes.
After the family meeting, I make 3 lists. The first is a list of attendees (13 this year). The second is a list of the menu from drinks to dessert. The third is an extensive grocery list. And to make it easier on me, the list is organized by the aisles in the grocery store. There is no point in listing milk next to green beans, because they are at opposite ends of the store. And I don’t want to forget anything and have to go running back when there are 200 people in line at the check out.
2 weeks before the event, I order a fresh turkey (this year 26 pounds) from the Delaware Chicken Farm in Hollywood, FL. They have the best, freshest free-range birds on earth.
On Monday before the holiday, I rearrange the furniture in the dining room and set and decorate the tables. I have to squeeze a bunch of people into a limited space.
On Tuesday morning before the holiday, I get to the grocery store by 7 am. The place is empty! I take my time and follow my list precisely so as not to forget anything. I really enjoy the fact that I do not need to rush or fight crowds and rude shoppers who leave their carts in the center of the aisles on a diagonal.
When I return from the store I spend an hour trying to fit the food in the fridge, while the dog stares at me. She tries to figure out why I am talking to myself so much. Then I make the ice cream and the cranberry sauce. This makes a huge mess.
On Tuesday afternoon, I clean up the front and back patios, so everything looks nice for the guests. Since we live in South FL, we always go outside in the yard after dinner.
On Tuesday night, I review the menu to make sure I haven’t forgotten anything important.
On Wednesday morning, my daughter and I go to pick up the bird at 7am! Enjoying the chaos in this store is part of our family tradition. The Delaware Chicken farm sells about 100,000 turkeys for this holiday! I laugh when the butcher hands over a 26 pounder over the glass case. It is so heavy and bulky, I am always afraid I’ll drop it.
I come home and make all the pies from scratch – apple, pumpkin, pecan and yes, real key lime. (It is a Florida thing!)
I chop huge amounts of celery, onions, garlic and shallots in the food processor and bag them to make my job easier on Thursday.
I clean up after the baking, and this is no fun. I also fight with the refrigerator to try to fit the pies in there.
On turkey day, I am up and working before 6 am, preparing the huge bird, stuffing and all those from-scratch recipes. My family helps me clean the bathrooms, vacuum and put everything away. We ALWAYS watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade while I am cooking.
I wash dishes as I go and put them all away as I work. The volume of pots, pans, utensils and supplies it takes to prepare this dinner would fill up an entire store.
The company comes at 4, and I serve them mulled apple cider. We eat at 5. We moan because we are stuffed, but eat dessert anyway. My daughter plays piano, my husband pays guitar and sings and then all the women help me clean up and put away the leftovers. This is the only day of the year that “the women” clean up exclusively. Many nights it is my husband who is the phenomenal cleaner in the family… just one more thing for which I have to be grateful. (My husband just edited this. Can you tell?) There are at least 6 people in the kitchen at one time, and we are all bumping into each other. The next morning it takes me hours to put everything away and the the furniture back in its proper place.
Here’s what you need to know about Thanksgiving
PS: DO NOT get a cholesterol test for at least 30 days after Thanksgiving, or you will be shocked by the results.
The December 1st (5pm EST) deadline to enter our contest is approaching. Librarians, take some time this long holiday weekend to write your story about “What I Wish Everyone Knew About Librarians.”
If you win, you’ll get that extra cash you may need just in time for holiday shopping!
My 16-year-old daughter asks me to wake her up at 9 am every Sunday morning so was can watch CBS News Sunday Morning together. This is by far the best and most fascinating (and usually lighthearted) news program I have ever seen, and no one paid me to say this. It is informative, creative, educational and often funny. I think it is the best TV watching for every member of the family age 7 and up.
Today the show was all about “The Way America Eats,” and I could not tear myself away from the screen to process the laundry for a few minutes.
So next Sunday, set your alarm if you have to, to get up and watch it with your family (if you don’t already). Or Tivo it so you can watch it after church. Once you see it, you’ll be hooked. And so will your kids.
Smart Poodle Publishing obviously LOVES dogs. After all, we named the business after our own pooch. And today I visited my friend, Millie, who is a foster parent to needy puppies. Check out these tiny poodle-yorkie-mix puppies. They are 11 weeks old!
My Mom asked me to write an entry for her tonight . . .
Looking through some old journals from 4th grade, I came across a number of nonsense poems I wrote during “Reflection” time. I’m not sure whether to be embarrased or afraid- nonetheless, they were pretty entertaining. I was actually good at maintaining rhyme schemes and meter, but the content makes no sense whatsoever.
Do you have a ruler for measuring things?
Do you have a ruler that lets you sing?
Well I have a ruler
The best one in the world!
At first it looks straight
and then it looks curled!
I’m telling you it’s the best one!
That’s all for now!
I think I’m done.
Nine year olds can be pretty funny.
Yesterday I learned (from Joseph Kerski, Ph.D from the Environmental Systems Research Institute) that the United States Geological Survey has the largest map room in the world. It is 17 acres and is larger than the Library of Congress!! You can view a short video here to see the inside of the place with its coutless shelves housing maps. I realize this is is not the most exciting action-packed video, but still it is fascinating to see how many maps the US owns.
If you have ever been curious about the making of maps, check out the USGS website, which explains everything you need to know about topographical maps. Yes, I admit this is rather nerdy, but it is fascinating. And after all, it is National Geography Awareness Week!
I apologize in advance for carrying on once again about how much I adore 1st graders. But they are adorable! They are so happy and tiny and animated. I had to visit Coral Sunset Elementary in Boca Raton again today, because the post office seems to have lost a box of books I shipped to the school on November 6th. I wanted to give those kids the books they were waiting for. I’ll deal with the post office later. (They won’t even try to track the box until it has been missing for 4 weeks.)
While I was there, I read the last 1/3 of my book to the students in Ms. Yarbrough’s room. I went in today dressed as Grandma Nellie. It was fun to read the book, since I don’t usually do that during my author visits. These kids had already listened to the CD twice, but still they acted as though they never heard it before. They were very attentive and had a lot of cute questions. One boy asked me why I look so much like the author who come to visit 3 weeks ago in a Lilly costume. He was confused when I told him that was me in a different costume. Another boy told me he was going to be the next President of the United States. He was devastated when I informed him that he needs to be at least 35 years old to run for that office. But I let him know that if he keeps reading and studying very hard, and learns where Washington DC is on the map, he has a chance of fulfilling his dream.
